


Venus in the Seventh House

by Aishuu



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Anime & Manga), Code Name: Sailor V
Genre: Fix-It, Gen, Post-Canon, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2016-12-16
Packaged: 2018-09-08 22:42:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8866288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aishuu/pseuds/Aishuu
Summary: She's sixteen and still Sailor V when she decides to become Aino Minako again.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [chaoticrandomness](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaoticrandomness/gifts).



> Thanks to A., my partner in crime, for serving as beta.

It comes out of the blue, like most of the moments that upend Minako’s worldview.

She’s sixteen, and satisfied that Galaxia has been defeated. She’s sixteen, and yet still remembers having lived the life of a soldier a thousand years ago. She’s sixteen, and tired because her battle will never truly end. There will always be another enemy, and she will always fight and die and be reborn beside the Princess who owns her loyalty.

But she smiles and continues without complaint, because she is genuinely happy for Usagi, and has faith that Crystal Tokyo will be a fantastic place to live. 

Tonight, though, she wants to be alone and to be her real self. On a whim, she transforms into Sailor V in order to fight. It’s been a long time since she wore her mask and fought ordinary, human criminals whose destinies weren’t involved in the grand scheme of the galaxy.

It feels almost like a holiday as she stands on the roof of a building near to where she had foiled a convenience store robbery. The villains were just petty thugs, and she had enjoyed taken them out using only a Sailor V kick instead of a magically powered attack. The customers had been properly grateful, and she’d taken selfies with them until the sound of police sirens indicated it was time to go.

There is something so appealing about solving such simple problems. Sailor V tilts her head back, hoping to catch a glimpse of the moon. She would look for her guardian star, but she can feel that it is still too early for Venus to rise, just as surely as she can feel her own heartbeat when she concentrates. 

“So we are both back where we started,” a voice says from behind her, startling her enough to make her spin around with surprise. 

Sailor V turns, and sees Sailor Pluto’s face. She is not in her senshi form, but instead wears a sharply fashionable suit while carrying the Garnet Rod. 

“Ahhh, Setsuna-san,” Minako replies, wondering why she feels guilty for being caught out in her old uniform. Every now and then she likes to patrol as Sailor V, reveling in the memories of how much she’d enjoyed her initial crime fighting phase. For a bonus, every time she gets photographed, the resulting sensation spawns a new line of V-chan merchandize, which she enjoys collecting. Artemis claims Sailor “V” really stands for “Vanity.”

Setsuna chuckles before coming closer. “I always enjoyed watching your activities as Sailor V,” she says. “It’s a different sort of fighting from that of a planetary senshi.”

“Lower stakes,” Minako agrees. Putting on V-chan’s fuku feels like a game, and one she sorely wants to play after having her starseed taken. She wants to feel young and ignorant, and like she can do anything she sets her mind to without needing to worry about the consequences.

“Usually,” Setsuna agrees, but then her expression turns pensive. “Though being Sailor V cost you in the end.” Her fingers tap against the staff as she seems to weight continuing, before she seems to come to a decision. “You changed a lot after fighting Ace, and not entirely for the better.”

Minako flushes. She hasn’t spoken to anyone about Ace since he died, but his memory still haunts her. Had she not known Setsuna, she might have taken the other woman’s words as an accusation, rather than a statement from a knowledgeable friend.

“I grew up,” she replies, turning away to look again for the moon. But it’s too early for moonrise, leaving only a smattering of stars visible through Tokyo’s light pollution.

“Yes,” Setsuna agrees again. “And you needed to, in order to tread the necessary path. But paths aren’t straight things, and there is time for more than duty.” She reaches out and wraps an arm around Minako’s waist in a half-hug. Strangely, her touch is a warm thing, something that feels familiar and reassuring, although they’ve never been the closest among the senshi. “Kaitou Ace was not a seer or prophet, Minako-chan,” she softly says into Minako’s ear.

Minako’s breathing stills, and her vision blurs. She has always been haunted by Ace’s final love fortune, taking it as her personal gospel. His promise that she would always choose duty over love made things simpler, even as it hurt.

“What do you mean, Setsuna-san?” she demands, breaking out of the hug to confront her, face-to-face.

“Ace was reincarnated from Adonis, a man who loved you. He became Danburite because of that love, and then died because he believed he was sparing you from a worse fate. But Ace was not a prophet, and his words have no more weight than a phony fortune teller at a sideshow,” Setsuna explains.

“That’s good to know,” Minako replies, unable to think clearly enough to assimilate the information. If Setsuna is right – and the Guardian of Time is always right about these things – then Minako’s simple path of duty just became much more convoluted.

Setsuna uses a gentle hand to brush a strand of Minako’s hair off back from her cheek, a gentle, reassuring gesture. “Galaxia is the last opponent you will face as Sailor Senshi before Crystal Tokyo arrives, so there will be time for all of your friends to pursue their own dreams,” Setsuna says.

“My dream….” Minako echoed, raising her own hand to her lips in wonder. Once, she dreamed of falling in love with the perfect guy. Now she wants to become an idol star, but she is unable to forget how good falling in love makes her feel.

People can have more than one dream.

“Could I really….”

“The only one holding you back is yourself, Minako-chan,” Setsuna says. “Remember, Usagi-chan saved Mamoru from the Dark Kingdom, so no love is ever truly hopeless.”

Setsuna points down from the roof, and Minako sees a light-haired young man heading towards the Crown Arcade. “I think you’ll enjoy meeting the newest transfer student to Juuban High tomorrow. I wanted to give you a heads up so you wouldn’t be too surprised.”

He’s too far away for Minako to get a good look, but the youth carries himself in a way that is all too familiar. Even without seeing his face, Minako knows who walks on the street below, and is about to re-enter her life. Her heart races even faster as hope begins to dawn inside, sending a current of excitement through her veins like electricity through water.

Minako is sixteen and hopeful when she begins to daydream about what future she might have with a man who truly loves her. She is the reincarnated Goddess of Love. It’s ridiculous to think she will never have what her very existence represents. 

“Why are you telling me this?” Minako asks again, knowing that inscrutable Setsuna never reveals the cards she held without good cause. Sparing Minako a shock and the onset of paranoia at seeing him again wouldn’t be enough of a reason.

Setsuna smiles, and Minako wonders why she even bothered to ask. To her astonishment, she receives an answer.

“I’ve always been your biggest fan, V-chan!” Setsuna says, before giving an uncharacteristic wink and waving the two fingers of her free hand up in a victory sign.

Another wave of shock almost overwhelms her as her world shifts for the second time in ten minutes.

Minako would have to have been blind not to have previously noted the resemblance Setsuna bears to the Superintendent General of the Metropolitan Police Board, but they are so different in personality that she never thought much on it. Now she wants to kick herself, because she knows as well as any that reincarnation can change personality due to a person growing up in a different life, under different circumstances. 

Aino Minako is sixteen years old when she realizes one of her oldest allies is really the reincarnation of her _oldest_ ally. Sailor Pluto does not live in ordinary time, so of _course_ her next reincarnation would be of someone Minako has known for her entire career as a senshi. 

But Minako is not one to be fazed long by the unexpected, and she grins at Setsuna. “I’ll sign all the posters you want, Natsuna-oneesan.”


End file.
